Julia Louis-Dreyfus Opens Up About ‘Seinfeld’ Set Clashes: ‘You’re Going to Butt Heads’

Seinfeld is routinely called one of the greatest sitcoms ever made, but according to Julia Louis-Dreyfus, getting it right wasn’t always smooth sailing.

Asked directly whether there was tension on set during a Tuesday, September 1 appearance on Benny Blanco‘s podcast, Friends Keep Secrets, the actress, 65, didn’t hesitate. “Of course, yes, tons,” she said, explaining that doing quality work simply comes with friction. “It’s hard to do anything really well and it takes a lot of work and you’re going to butt heads.”

Louis-Dreyfus’ history with Seinfeld creator Larry David actually predates the show itself. She met David years earlier while the two were on Saturday Night Live together, a stretch she remembers as a rough patch they bonded over, she revealed. When David later wrote the Seinfeld script, he sent it to her. She was struck by how different it felt from other sitcoms at the time, calling it “unusual” — though she was convinced networks wanted another Cosby Show and doubted NBC would take a chance on it, assuming executives were “too stupid” to pick it up.

Once the show got going, the Veep star said she generally had an easy rapport with David when it came to her lines, and could work through scenes collaboratively with costars Jerry Seinfeld, Jason Alexander, and Michael Richards. That said, collaboration didn’t mean total harmony. “I mean, sometimes there was an argument,” she said.

Even so, the arguments never overshadowed the experience. She described the set as a place full of camaraderie.

“It was just like, friends being friends together and hanging out,” she said. “And I mean, that sounds as if it was just hanging out. It was a lot of work to make the show, of course.”

The cast pushed each other, argued their points, and still walked away with a show that’s stood the test of time — proof that even TV’s tightest-knit casts can bicker their way to greatness.